Phoenix Rising
by bobnbob
Summary: When Shepard dies at Elysium, the legendary hero is not around to stop the Reapers. Without the swift end Shepard brings only the instinctual desire to live causes the Citadel species to fight on. Finally, on the brink of total annihilation, one final desperate act could save everything, or simply fizzle and die.
1. Apparently This is an Intro

The man stood in front of the window and gazed down. His regal bearing was not dulled by his age, though if one looked closely the signs could be seen of exhaustion from carrying the world on his shoulders. The buzz of activity was little more than white noise as he stood deep in thought.

 _This was the last hope for the free species? What had this war come to that all of their hope rested on an untested science experiment?_ That was the way it had always been though, he supposed. _Desperate times call for desperate measures._

"Sir," the voice over his right shoulder broke the admiral out of his contemplation, "Diagnostics check out, sir. We're ready."

The admiral turned and eyed the turian. _A good species,_ he thought, _perhaps a bit stuck on ceremony and formality, but tough as nails and loyal to the end._

 _Too bad they would die along with the rest of us._

"How long, lieutenant?" he asked.

"Ten minutes to full charge, sir," the turian replied.

"Very well, proceed."

The admiral turned back to the window. Just ten more minutes and he would have his answer.

"Sir, Captain Destius is reporting energy fluctuations on the edge of the system. They're here, sir."

A second aide approached the admiral, looking slightly fearful, but determined to do his job.

The admiral sighed, "Thank you, ensign. Please inform the captain we need him to hold for ten minutes."

 _Ten more minutes and I will have a report of success,_ the admiral thought, _or I will be too dead to care._

As the admiral continued to gaze through the window a hum began to grow throughout the station. Light began to illuminate as capacitors charged. The lights silhouetted six figures in the chamber, hiding any distinct features. These six figures were the last hope of the free species. The entire existence of the human, asari, turian, and salarian races came down to these six figures.

"Sir, five minutes to full charge," reported the lieutenant.

"Sir, we've lost contact with the _Final Dawn_. Captain Destius is gone, sir," called the ensign.

The admiral wondered, _How could these six figures possibly succeed where so many others have failed? Millions of men and women of all species have fought tooth and claw to defeat their indomitable enemy. What could possibly make these six different?_

"Two minutes to full charge, sir."

"One of the enemy ships has broken through. It's heading our way."

 _They can sense the power here,_ the admiral thought. _They know it is the last desperate gasp of a dying deer, and they intend to snuff it out; just like they have every cycle._

"Thirty seconds."

"The enemy ship has established orbit."

The lights in the chamber grew to a near unbearable intensity. Their brightness blurred the edges of figures making them even more indistinct. The hum of power and machinery reached a peak, causing visible vibrations in the window in front of the admiral.

"Five…"

The admiral raised his hand in a final salute to the six.

"Four…"

 _Good luck._

"Three…"

"The enemy ship is directly above us, sir."

 _God be with us._

"Two…"

"They're charging main cannons."

 _Who am I kidding?_

"One…"

"Firing."

 _God is the one killing us._

 **Comments of all kinds are welcome. I make no promises about updates.**


	2. The Real Chapter One

Samuel sighed contentedly as the sun warmed his upturned face. A light breeze blew across the lake shore, rustling the leaves of nearby oak trees. Light ripples across the lake's surface caused the sunlight to shatter into a million sparkles which danced upon the surface of the water.

Samuel jumped as drops of cold water landed on his face. An angelic giggle followed his reaction and he opened his eyes to find the source. Her blonde hair framed her face as Lucy Collins stood with her hips cocked and one eyebrow raised.

"Are you going to stand there all day, Sammy, or are you going to come take a dip?"

The seriousness of her expression was betrayed by the smirk that formed on her lips. Samuel admired her for a moment before giving a small fake sigh.

"You just had to ruin the moment didn't you? I guess I'm going to have to do something about that," he stated with a small shrug and a matter of fact tone.

Samuel charged her with a playful roar and she shrieked before taking off down the shoreline. Running through the shallow water proved to be Lucy's downfall though, and she shrieked again as Samuel tackled her, rolling in midair to land on his back while carrying both of them into the water. He laughed as she floundered about.

Lucy splashed his face with water while complaining, "You arse, you got my hair wet!"

Samuel laughed as he splashed her back. Lucy raised her hands in front of her face to defend herself as her laughter rang out like a bell. When he finished she lowered her hands and smiled at him.

"Five minutes," she said in a distinctly masculine voice.

"What?" Samuel asked, confused at the sudden change in tone.

Lucy reached a hand forward and placed it on his shoulder, giving a gentle but deceptively strong shake.

"Five minutes, sir," she said again in that strange voice.

A dull roaring began to fill Samuel's ears, growing louder as black spots began to form and the world around him faded and darkened.

* * *

The world snapped back into focus and the sound became the droning of the duel engines of their C-47 transport, the black spots became other aircraft alongside their own, or puffs of flack fire exploding around them. Worst of all, the beautiful blonde Lucy Collins became none other than Samuel's ugly ass platoon Sargent, Mike Stone.

"I'm awake, Mike," Samuel said.

"Welcome back, sir."

1st Lt Samuel Shepard leaned forward and looked down the line of his men. Pvt Andrews was smoking a cigarette and bouncing one leg, looking slightly worried. This was his first combat operation, hand a couple of others having been brought in to replace their losses after the Ardennes. The majority of his men hadn't done a combat jump before, but most of them had been in the unit long enough to at least see combat during the push to the Rhine after the Ardennes. Shepard couldn't focus too much on the freshies though, instead trusting that his NCOs would keep an eye out for them.

Shifting his attention away from Andrews, Shepard spotted Cpl Williams and Pvt Talbert looking over a magazine. Their wild gestures and loud comments reminded him of why they hadn't been promoted yet, even though they had been part of his team since the FSSF was formed. Despite their antics around camp, they were capable and dependable soldiers in the field. Sgt Ellis sat next to them, keeping an eye on all the men while showing little outward expression. He nodded when he noticed Shepard's gaze, indicating both his readiness and the readiness of the men towards the forward portion of the plane. Shepard returned the gesture and completed one more brief scan of his men before his gaze returned to the door.

There wasn't much to see outside, his seat across from the door put him far enough away to limit his field of view up or down significantly. Shepard could see half a dozen other C-47s outside, the closest of which bore the rest of his platoon. The only other things he could see were dozens of flack explosions, causing Shepard to question if the artillery and bombing from the previous day had done anything to hurt the enemy prior to their landing.

Suddenly, the airman next to him slapped Shepard's arm to get his attention.

"Two minutes," he said, holding up the appropriate number of fingers.

Shepard stood up into the aisle of the cabin. He took a moment to balance himself against the rocking of the plane while Sgt. Stone and others began to pass the word along. He faced his men as they turned their heads towards him.

"Stand up!" he said, nearly shouting to be heard over the engine noise, making upward motions with his hands to get the message across.

The men stood up nearly in unison. Despite not being able to hear well, and though the majority of the men hadn't performed a combat jump, they were all well trained and knew what needed to be done.

"Hook up!" Shepard said, using his right hand to hook up his own pull cable to the pole which ran the length of the ceiling. His left hand pantomimed a hook which he raised to indicate his men should do the same with their cables.

"Check your equipment!"

The men began to inspect their own equipment and the man next to them, tugging on straps and pulling buckles. Shepard checked the front of Sgt. Stone while the NCO did the same to him.

"Sound off for equipment check!" Each man from the front of the plane to the back gave an affirmative response.

With their preparations nearly complete the airman stepped up to Shepard and said, "Stand in the door."

Shepard stepped over to the open cabin door. He braced himself on either side of the door frame as the roaring of the engines and the roaring wind fought for dominance. The wind also tugged at his uniform, catching the material on any flat surface before it was pushed around to afford easier passage.

Being able to look down for the first time, Shepard saw just how much damage the artillery and bombings had actually done. The fields below him looked like a muddy horse track, with blacked craters forming like mouths to swallow anything that got close, be it trees, farm tools, or even buildings. Most of the larger clusters of buildings had been hit so hard they looked like hands with so many broken fingers that the fires still burning looked like blood spewing forth from mortal wounds. The forested areas looked the most normal, but huge gaping holes could still be seen where particularly large explosions had happened.

And yet, for all the beating it had unjustly taken, it now appeared the ground was making every effort to strike back at them. Bright tracers could be seen leaping forth into the sky, even in the bright morning sunlight. Flashes of muzzle fire heralded flack explosions that covered the sky with as much blackness and smoke as was present on the ground. It looked like the very earth and sky had gone to war, rather than just the small animals that wandered both.

The light next to the door of the plane turned green and Shepard felt two taps on his shoulder. With one step forward he was out of the door and fully out into this chaotic hell.

 _Not much point in thinking about it,_ Shepard thought as he began to fall, _after all, jumping feet first into hell is what paratroopers were born for._

His adrenaline instinctively spiked when his feet met no resistance and he plummeted towards the earth. There was a slight tug as his pull cable went taught, and then a more solid jerk as his parachute deployed, preventing him from falling to his death. Slipping fully into a tactical mentality, Shepard took a few seconds to observe the landscape around him from his added height. Rousing the memory of their operation maps he confirmed that their pilot had been dropped almost exactly where they were supposed to be.

The sharp crack of a bullet past his head pulled Shepard back to his immediate danger. As a few more rounds flew too close for comfort Shepard decided discretion was the better part of valor and quickly went limp in his harness. Due to the sheer number of projectiles flying through the air it was little wonder that the occasional piece came near him, but the distinct concentration next to his head slacked off. As the ground approached Shepard prepared himself for a harder than usual landing.

Shepard hit the ground and promptly rolled onto his back. The landing wasn't comfortable, but he hadn't broken anything, so it was good enough. He quickly hit the chest release and shimmied out of his parachute harness. Making and effort to stay low due to the sound of MG42 fire nearby, Shepard quickly got his gear in order and hefted his Johnson before raising just enough to see over what little vegetation game him visual cover in this burned out wasteland.

The MG fire was coming from the wood line along the west side of the field he was in. He could see muzzle flashes from two different locations, one in a small bunker, and the other in the remaining half of a small building. Additionally, Shepard thought he could see some muzzle flashes pointed skyward from an anti-air emplacement further past the machine guns. At least a dozen infantry were in his immediate area and were firing at the troopers coming down into the field.

Since no bullets were landing near him he took another moment to look around for his men. He watched Pvt Andrews come down about five yards to his right before he rushed over the help the man up. As Shepard approached Andrews struggled out of his harness and gathered his gear.

"I want you to grab those three guys and rush the line just north of that MG," Shepard ordered, gesturing to some nearby troopers and the gun in the building, "We need to get off this field and take out that gun before it takes out all of us."

"Yes, sir," Andrews replied before taking off to gather the other troopers. Shepard turned and moved to the next closest trooper he could see.

"Mike," he said as he ducked into cover next to Stone, "I need you to gather the men. Have them push north with Andrews or south on that MG in the bunker."

Sgt. Stone nodded in acknowledgement before leaning out of cover to fire at the blasted building. As Shepard turned and got up to leave he was pulled back into cover sharply. Losing his balance and falling onto is rear, he watched as a fusillade of bullets raked across the space he would have stepped into. Giving Sgt. Stone two pats as thanks Shepard got up once more and took off for the next paratrooper.

Shepard gathered six of his men as he moved south. None had major injuries, although Pvt Sanchez had been shot up while he was still in his parachute.

"Dakota, I need you to take out that MG gunner. They're going to keep somebody on it as much as possible and we can't have that. Talbert, watch his back and play rabbit if he takes too much heat. Williams, Brooks, and Joannes, we're rushing that trench just to the south of that building. Let's move!"

Shepard took off at a run, following his own orders to rush the tree line. Jumping into cover behind a burned out farm cart Shepard steadied his Johnson on what used to be the driver's seat of the cart. As he fired his first burst at the Germans in the trench he was reminded of how much he loved his gun. Despite its automatic nature each of the rounds from his burst was almost exactly where it was aimed at. That level of precision was a significant improvement over the standard BAR used by most of the Allied infantry. Additionally, the Johnson's light weight and portability made it significantly better than the BAR in closer quarters. This particular rifle was one of the few surviving from the original 125 the FSSF had received from the American Marines. Shepard's love for the rifle had been a running joke back in the Force, to the point where one of his men had carved the word "Baby" into the buttstock. No one had ever 'fessed up to the desecration, though Shepard did admit it made the weapon easier to identify when there had been more Johnsons lying around. Now it was unique all on its own. As Shepard fired off a few more bursts, his three men moved past him one by one. A sharp crack sounded to Shepard's right and the machine gun fell silent. Seeing it as good a time as any he jumped out of cover and stormed towards the trench once more, reloading as he moved.

His suppressive fire earlier and the general chaos of the field helped their advance on the trench and they were able to take out the defending Germans without any injuries among the four of them. To the north Shepard could see Andrews and several others taking a similar trench. Since the north side of the building was collapsed from the previous days' bombings, Shepard expected that Andrews would proceed past the building and clear any defenses on the other side while his group cleared the MG nest itself.

"Brooks, Joannes, move over to the west corner of the building and cover the back side from there."

It was a stroke of luck that the south side of the building had no windows on the south side. Once the trench they were in had been cleared there was no protection for the south flank of the machine gun. Not only was there no protection, but any troops in the building were blind to anything directly south of them. Shepard dismissed the poor defenses and he and Williams advanced on the southeast corner of the building. The MG was still firing on the troopers out in the field, but he was amazed they would just ignore his presence. It's not like they had been stealthy in their approach.

Shepard slung his rifle over one shoulder and approached the window cautiously. This close to the MG the sound was deafening. Shepard drew his .45 and a frag before priming the grenade and counting to six. On six Shepard tossed the grenade through the window and ducked back into cover. There was a shout and an explosion a second later. Raising his pistol, Shepard spun and stepped across the window. He fired two rounds at a figure on the far side of the room, the silhouette of a German helmet marking the figure's allegiance. Shepard completed his turn and cleared the southeast corner of the room as he moved fully into cover on the far side of the window. A burst of gunfire from inside the room followed his action, indicating at least one person was still alive. Williams primed a grenade before performing his own sweep of the room and declaring it clear. With any immediate danger neutralized Shepard took a moment to examine the MG42 before deciding that his grenade had caused enough damage for the weapon to be inoperable.

Shepard and Williams moved around the south side of the building to meet Brooks and Joannes. Cpl Easton and Pvt Miller had joined them and were covering south towards the other bunker.

"Sir, Sgt Ellis has cleared the defenses between us and that bunker and is currently clearing the bunker itself," Brooks reported.

"Good. Miller, stay here and inform tell the Sgt to follow us to the triple A site when he's done. Then call in Dakota and Talbert and Sgt. Stone from the other MG nest. Rally point is the gun site."

"On me," Shepard ordered before moving south west.

Shepard noted that the anti-air emplacement was still firing skyward as they approached. While it would make their assault less deadly it meant the gun was firing on their brethren who were less able to defend themselves.

One of the soldiers defending the position spotted their advance and shouted a warning. Shepard and his men jumped into cover before returning fire.

"Easton! Take Brooks and hit their left flank. Suppressing fire!"

They weren't close enough to use grenades and they were too outnumbered to advance forward so a standard flanking advance seemed the best option. Shepard emptied another magazine from the Johnson at the Germans. A yelp sounded to his right and Shepard looked over to see Joannes clutching his leg as he fell back into cover. It was probably a relatively minor wound and wouldn't kill him, but Joannes would likely be out of the fighting for the day.

Shepard drew his pistol and spun around when he heard movement behind him.

"Talbert, see to Joannes, make sure he doesn't bleed out. Dakota, take out that gun crew."

Shepard fired another magazine with his rifle before a sharp crack sounded over his shoulder and the gunner of the AA cannon slumped in his chair. One of the Germans gave a shout and the fire intensified around Shepard forcing him to hunker down behind the log he was using as cover. There was so much incoming fire that it would be nearly impossible to peak out, much less move to other cover. Behind his cover though Shepard was fairly safe and took the moment to look over his men.

Talbert had finished bandaging Joannes' leg and both were still behind cover as Talbert seemed to be trying to keep his presence quiet.

Williams was beyond them and also seemed to be pinned down. He was looking around his cover as much as possible to keep an eye out for rushes or flanks, a survival tactic they had learned in the FSSF.

Turning to his left Shepard saw Dakota had drawn most of the fire, but appeared to be unhurt behind his cover. The enemy had obviously not taken kindly to the marksman's presence.

Looking further left, Shepard could make out Easton and Brooks entering the far end of the German trenches. The heightened fire on his own position had given them an opportunity to push up and overwhelm the defenders. Knowing their actions would quickly invoke a retaliatory action from the Germans, he prepared himself to similarly rush the trenches.

Before Shepard had a chance to act on his intentions a new shout went up from the right flank and a hail of bullets smashed into the German defenders. Sgt Ellis and several others charged their lines and threw the defense into disarray. Shepard and his men charged moments later and the enemy soldiers were quickly cut down.

Once they cleared the rest of the area for any other Germans, Shepard's men fanned out to cover the area while they waited for new orders.

"I sent Miller to get the group moving on that southern machine gun bunker and bring them here," Shepard told Ellis, "If they aren't here in another two minutes I want you to grab a couple guys and hit it from behind. After that we're moving on the farm."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and the air force will've done their job properly for once and blown up the farm," someone near them commented.

"Not likely. As you can clearly see they're really good at hitting everywhere except where the Germans are," another replied.

"It wouldn't make a difference anyway. Franz is like a turtle, just hides under his helmet when the bombs drop and pops right back out to shoot the paras."

"I thought the Japs were like turtles for that reason."

"Nah, the Japs are moles, not turtles. They just straight up dig whole cave systems underground and pop up behind the marines. Good tactic too, since the marines are too dumb to turn around."

As the conversation spread around, Shepard and Ellis compared notes on what they had seen in the surrounding terrain on the trip down. They agreed that they had been dropped almost exactly where they were supposed to be. Also, there were no major terrain differences from the pre-mission briefing, but several weapon emplacements had clearly survived the bombings. They decided to take out as many of these weapons as they could on their way to their main objective at Hingendahlshof farm.

Just as they finished their discussion Pvt Hancock gave a shout to declare the arrival of the other squad. Sgt. Stone and Sgt. Hayes walked over to Shepard and Ellis.

"Any word on the Captain or Lt. Black?" Shepard asked.

"No, although I did see Lt. Waters meeting up with some men before we headed over here," Hayes replied, shaking his head.

"And you brought eight guys with you?"

"Yeah"

That meant Shepard had 29 of his 36 men accounted for with 28 combat effective. Not bad considering the hell the landing zone had been.

"Ok. We move on the farm as was originally planned. Despite the fact that it's only a mile and half Ellis and I think that there are at least four gun sites between us and it. Hayes and I will take first squad up the center, Stone you have second on the right, and Ellis you get third on the left. Keep about 50 yards distance between us. Tell the men to keep eyes and ears open, no reason to die deaf or blind."

* * *

In the next half hour the platoon cleared all four gun sites, another MG42 nest, and Hingendahlshof farm. With their objective complete Shepard sent runners to where the other platoons were supposed to be located before he began setting up a perimeter to hold their ground. An excellent ridgeline for their defense lay about 500 yards northwest of the farm, and already contained fortifications being used by the Germans to defend the area.

"Not much for it but to go straight into the mouth of the tiger," Stone commented, examining the German positions from where the platoon sat just inside the wood line.

"I agree," Shepard said turning towards the rest of the platoon, "We're going straight in boys, no two ways around it. Just get cover where you can but remember Paratrooper 101."

"Fire and maneuver," the men chorused.

At the signal they pushed across the open ground separating them from the German position. A couple of men went down, but Shepard had seen enough war by now to know that was just how it went. When he reached the trenches Shepard leapt right in. He rolled to absorb his fall and raised his Johnson to fire down the trench, taking out two enemies. Seeing his men jumping in between him and any further Germans to his left, Shepard turned to his right to prepare to assault one of the central bunkers of the position.

Shepard, Stone, Williams, and Talbert pushed into the large open trench area in front of the door of the bunker, killing two Germans who had abandoned the MG42 which was mounted on the trench wall. The machine gun's fixed mounting limited its field of fire, and when the Canadian paras had reached the trench the Germans had known their MP40s would give them a better chance. Not that it made much of a difference against the four former FSSF members.

The four paras stacked up on the bunker, Stone and Williams opposite Shepard and Talbert. Stone and Talbert each primed a frag grenade before turning the corner simultaneously and tossing them. Instead of the expected small explosion a massive explosion, accompanied by a blue flash, shook the entire bunker and staggering the veteran soldiers just outside.

Exchanging concerned looks the four men paused momentarily before pushing into the bunker. Shepard watched as each man stumbled for half a step upon catching sight of the sheer carnage that had been unleashed within the bunker. Shepard had seen all kinds of explosions during his nearly three years in the Army, but he had never seen anything quite like this. If the structure itself hadn't been standing, Shepard would have sworn that there was at least a 1000 pound bomb that had gone off in the bunker. The two Germans who had been in the room were piles of charred bone and melted metal against the walls. Faint silhouettes of their last moments could be seen blasted into the walls. Everything else was black with random other lumps of whatever tools or materials used to be in the room. The floor and ceiling in the middle of the room were deformed, almost like they had been melted. Clearly, whatever had gone off in here had been hot, and two frag grenades sure wouldn't be it.

"Sir, you're going to want to see this."

Turning his head to the right, Shepard saw there was another small room off to the side of the bunker. The doorway into the room was much wider than a single door due to the massive section of wall that had been torn out. Shepard could see pieces of steel rebar sticking out of lumps of concrete. The wall must have been at least six inches thick of solid concrete and rebar. If Shepard hadn't seen the results of the main explosion he would have doubted anything strong enough to devastate the wall so much could have fit inside this small bunker.

Stone and Williams stood in the room beyond. It was relatively small, clearly having been some kind of storage room, where smashed shelves had survived the immense heat from the main explosion, but had been beaten down by the concrete from the destroyed wall. As Shepard and Talbert walked over Stone and Williams moved aside to make room for him and revealed…something…lying against the far wall among pieces of concrete.

As Shepard got closer he realized it was a person, a really big person, in what looked like some kind of armor. It was painted in a camouflage pattern Shepard had never seen before, but where the paint had been scratched away a dull blue metal could be seen. Shepard was amazed that the armor had survived at all. If he was right then this figure had been in the main room when the explosion happened, and was the object that took out the wall separating the two rooms. Other than damage to the paint though there was no evidence of burns or deformations in the armor. What was this stuff made out of that it could survive that much punishment?

Not that it would likely matter, since there was no way anybody inside would have survived. Shepard had seen enough bombed tanks to know that even if a tank survived the blast its crew would often be pulverized by secondary shockwaves inside the vehicle itself. And any explosion with enough force to through a metal suit through a concrete wall had enough force to create secondary shockwaves.

"Let's roll them onto their back," Shepard said, stepping forward to grab the shoulder of the suit.

As he guessed the thing seemed to weigh a ton, and even with the three of them it took all their strength to roll it over. The front of the armor also showed only cosmetic damage. The face was covered by a metal mask which strangely had no visible way of seeing out.

 _What good is it to wear a suit of metal if you can't see anything?_ Shepard thought.

"Let's see if we can get this thing off. If it survived that blast I'm sure some egghead would love to look at it."

"I'm not opening that thing! No way anybody survived that explosion without getting pasted, and I don't want to be the one to scoop out their goo from inside that thing," Talbert complained.

"Shut it private," Stone said.

Shepard knelt down to get a better look at the armor, running his fingers around the sides to see if he could find some kind of latch. A slight electrical shock greeted his touch and Shepard jumped back in surprise.

"WARNING!" a mechanical voice said, "Unauthorized tampering with Titan Mk. IV will result in deployment of lethal counter measures."

"….the fuck?" Talbert mumbled.

The four men exchanged a look, the same slack jawed expression on all of their faces.

 _Even with all the shit we've seen,_ Shepard thought, _wonders never cease._

Three beeps suddenly sounded, and all attention was back on the armor.

"Scan complete," the voice spoke again, "No indoctrination detected. Please forgive the earlier rudeness; we can't be too careful these days."

The voice's English had a strange accent. It wasn't German, which put Shepard a bit at ease, but it didn't sound like any other tone he'd heard before.

"Please be patient, the Operator has had a bit of a knock, but should regain consciousness shortly."

"Because that totally explains everything," Williams said.

Shepard turned around as there was movement at the entrance of the bunker. Dakota stepped in and gave a brief nod.

"Position is secure, sir. The Huns have fled."

Having delivered his report Dakota took a moment to take in his surroundings. He paused as he took in the blacked walls and melted floor, the destroyed doorway and the four men standing at the end of the room looking like they had seen a fish dancing the Can Can.

"What happened here?" he asked hesitantly.

Talbert let out a short laugh before starting to walk towards the outdoors.

"Oh nothing special, just SNAFU really," he said, patting Dakota on the shoulder as he passed the sniper.

The room remained silent as he left the bunker, and the four men who remained could hear as he began to whistle a merry tune that faded as he walked away.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **There you go, the first real chapter. Don't expect other updates this quickly. I had about half of this chapter written when I posted the intro, and had a pretty clear idea what I was doing. I have some of the next chapter planned out but not all of it yet, so it could be a while. Fair warning.**


	3. El Numero Dos

While Shepard's platoon bunkered down to hold the ridge, the rest of Baker Company began to take up positions around them. His company commander, Cpt. McGowan, called the platoon leaders into a nearby dugout to discuss their position. When Shepard and Stone arrived he saw McGowan sitting in behind a table where their operation map was laid out. One of his shoulders was bandaged, but it didn't appear to be a serious injury. The other platoon leaders and their chief NCOs were already present, and along the back wall one of McGowan's aides appeared to be making tea.

"Alright lads," the captain began upon Shepard and Stone's arrival, "tell me what we've got."

1st Lt. Black, the company XO and leader of 1st platoon, began the reports.

"After hitting the deck and pushing off the LZ, my men RV'd here," he said, pointing at a location on the map just off the field they had all landed in. "From there we moved west towards the farm house and then towards the ridge we are currently at. With two having secured the ridge, my men have taken up positions along the road just south of the ridge. Along the way we took out machine gun emplacements here, here, and here," Black continued, pointing to each of the locations in turn, "as well as heavy weapons here and here, and a bunker along the tree line here. Two Panzer IVs were spotted here, moving west, but were unable to be engaged. Casualties include five dead, two wounded and three missing. We are currently 27 combat effective."

Shepard paused a moment after the conclusion of Black's report before he began his own. His report was similar to Black's, a brief description of their route, list of weapons destroyed, and casualty report. 2nd platoon had had more injured than 1st, but fewer dead and missing, leaving them at 29 combat effective.

2nd Lt. Waters concluded with 3rd platoon's report. Apparently 3rd had been more scattered on landing and a number of men were still missing, leaving them at only 23 effective.

"Right," McGowan said after Waters finished, "Black and Waters, send out patrols to determine the locations of Able and Charlie west and north. Battalion HQ says they're supposed to be there, but I want you to identify exactly how much room we have; from there sweep southwest to find what the Jerries have for us. I'm sure the lads at the river have been hitting them pretty hard, but I doubt the Huns all just up and left because hell dropped on their heads."

"Shepard, get a squad back the gliders and get us some ammo and heavy guns. If there's two Panzers there's probably more and I don't want to be throwing spit wads at them when they come to get their bunkers back. Is there anything else to discuss, gentlemen?"

Sgt. Stone suddenly cleared his throat behind Shepard. When he turned around Shepard saw Stone looking pointedly at him before turning to the captain.

"Sorry, sir, just some dust in my throat from earlier."

"Very well. Thank you all, you are dismissed."

Shepard and Stone stepped out of the dugout, followed by the other men, and began the walk back towards the bunker where their men were centered. As soon as they were out of earshot, Stone stepped up beside Shepard.

"Any particular reason you didn't have anything else to report?" he asked.

"What could I possible have to report, Mike? A large chunk of metal that talks?"

"A piece of highly advanced technology like that must be useful to somebody. You saw the amount of punishment it can take. Imagine what we could've done if we'd had one of those in Italy."

"I hear what you're saying, Mike, but we are in the middle of a battle still. If we could get one of our guys inside it would be worth mentioning, but I don't want to risk it after the warning. As for the egg heads, a day or two delay won't slow down any discoveries they can make off the thing. Besides," he started again, refocusing on Stone, "something about that object makes me feel like we need to find out more about it before we tell anybody."

"It's your call, Shepard," Stone replied, "but that thing is going to end up being a lot bigger than just the couple of us grunts, and I'm pretty sure we're going to need a lot of help."

Their conversation drew to a close as they approached the bunker and the rest of their men.

* * *

 ** _Cognitive functions initializing…_**

 ** _Loading last stored memory…_**

 ** _ERROR: Last recorded data corrupted._**

 ** _Command: Perform diagnostic scan._**

 ** _Scanning…_**

 ** _Scan Complete: Energy levels exceeded critical levels at 2.00.00. Safety shutdown initiated at time of incident; all unsaved memory corrupted._**

 _Ugh, what time is it?_

 ** _Command: Time and date._**

 ** _ERROR: Internal clock waiting for reset following safety shutdown._**

 ** _Command: Connect to FGRN._**

 ** _Connecting…_**

 ** _ERROR: Unable to connect to FGRN, network not available._**

 ** _Command: Connect to GN._**

 ** _Connecting…_**

 ** _ERROR: Unable to connect to GN, network not available._**

 _That's not good._

 ** _Command: Connect to Titan Mk. IV._**

 ** _Connecting…_**

 ** _Connection established._**

 ** _WARNING: Titan Mk. IV indicates emergency reset 0.17.06 ago._**

 ** _Current galactic time: UNKNOWN_**

 ** _Current galactic location: UNKNOWN_**

 _Wait, why am I thinking in code?_

 ** _..._**

 ** _Query: You can hear me, Operator Morgan?_**

 _Sal? Yeah I can hear you. Since when can you read my thoughts?_

 ** _Comment: I am not attempting to communicate with you, Operator Morgan, I am just running internal processes._**

 ** _Command: Run diagnostic scan of physical systems._**

 ** _Scanning…_**

 ** _Scan Complete: 6189 unsupported systems found._**

 ** _Comment: Operator, scan results indicate all systems are functional, but a number of unknown systems have been connected since the safety shutdown was initialized._**

 ** _Query: Do you remember a scheduled upgrade?_**

 _No, Sal, last thing I remember was prepping to use the transporter._

 ** _Comment: I do not have a scheduled upgraded logged either, curious._**

 ** _Comment: I have found new optical sensors. I am attempting to activate them to assess the situation._**

 _Sweet Athame that's bright! Why would you open my eyes?!_

 ** _Processing…_**

 ** _Comment: I believe I have a hypothesis, Operator Morgan, however it is rather far-fetched._**

 _Hit me with it, Sal. It can't be any more random than giant black robot space squid destroying all life in the galaxy for kicks and giggles._

 ** _Comment: I hypothesize that an energy burst during the use of the transporter caused us to be fused together so that we are now one being._**

 _…_

 _Ok, I'll admit I didn't see that coming._

 ** _Comment: I know the idea is impossible, but it is the best theory I can come up with using current evidence. Further substantiation of the idea requires proper medical equipment._**

 _Very well, I suppose there isn't much else to do than figure out what else is going on around us and where we are. Any sign of the others?_

 ** _Comment: Negative, Operator, no FGR signals have been detected within range._**

As the conversation wound down, Talee Sareel began to take stock of her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was the familiar comfort of her armor. There were no unusual sensations, or quiet alarms which indicated a breach, prompting Talee to continue to take stock in a slightly more relaxed manner. There were few things which could pierce the Titan armor and any Reaper which was prepared to do so would have fully ripped her apart already.

As Talee reopened her eyes, a soft beeping reached her ears, an indication the suit was looking for her attention. The previously bright light turned out to be a message displayed on her HUD.

 **Titan Mk. IV** **version 2.5.1 has recovered from an unexpected shutdown. Would you like to start Titan Mk. IV in safe mode?**

"No," Talee said, and watched as the suit ran through its boot sequence.

"Welcome, Operator Morgan La Fey. All systems operational, one attempted tampering logged since last recorded entry."

The last part of the message caused Talee to still. If there was an attempted tamping log then at least one other person had been near her since she had been unconscious, and it would be prudent to identify potential threats before revealing her conscious state.

As the suit's systems came online the cameras and microphones on its exterior began to reveal her surroundings outside the suit. She was lying on her back facing up at a grey stony ceiling that had clearly been fabricated. She could see walls of the same material and metal shelves leading her to believe she was in some kind of storeroom. She could also hear voices nearby and glancing towards her feet she spotted one of the speakers.

It was a male human, wearing dark green clothes. There were patches and symbols on the clothes, and he had a relaxed grip on a thin half-wood, half-metal object that looked distinctly like some kind of rifle.

 _Some kind of soldier then,_ she thought to herself.

And yet the man wore no armor except a crude metal helmet that was really more of a hat than a helmet. The wide brim may help to block out the sun, but the man's face, ears, and neck were all completely exposed to projectiles of any kind. She could see two more human males in the same type of outfits through the destroyed wall at the end of the room.

Perhaps they were some type of insurgency? A few men left over from a destroyed settlement? That didn't seem quite right though. Despite their woefully underwhelming weapons and armor, these men looked fed and healthy, nothing like men who were constantly pursued in enemy territory, fighting to survive every moment. Even their mannerisms were odd. They were clearly veterans, for despite their relaxed appearance they kept sharp attention on their surroundings, even the one who was cleaning his weapon. Their eyes spoke of the horrors of war, yet there wasn't the same soul sucking despair that she had seen in nearly every other being that had fought the Reapers. The worst part about this whole thing was that something about the situation was familiar in a nagging way. She had seen this somewhere else, but couldn't quite put her finger on where.

* * *

Pvt. Joseph Talbert tensed and looked over as he heard the rubble pile at the back of the room shift. He started to stand and raise his M1 when he realized that the metal suit was not where it had been lying for the last couple of hours. Before he was able to raise an alarm, Joseph felt a large metal arm wrap across his chest to pin his shoulders in place, and pull him back against a solid wall of metal. With its captive in hand, the suit spun around so Joseph was facing the main room where Williams and Dakota where starting to point their weapons at him. In an attempt to get away from the giant metal being, Joseph raised his left hand to grab the thumb on his right shoulder to try and leverage the arm away from him. At the same time he raised the barrel of his M1 up over his shoulder to attack his captor. If he was lucky he could shoot them in the head, otherwise the report and close proximity of the discharge should startle the thing enough to be able to slip out of its grip.

Before he could pull the trigger the thing grabbed the end of the rifle with its free hand and wrested it from his grip from before flipping it and aiming it with one arm at Williams and Dakota. He ignored their shout for the thing to surrender while he reached for his V-42 combat knife. Just as his hand reached the handle his entire body froze, and despite his best struggles Joseph was unable to move.

"Be still," a feminine voice said. It had a mechanical hint to it, like listening to the gals on the radio back home.

 _I just got beat by a girl? Shit, I am never going to live this thing down,_ Joseph thought.

Williams and Dakota continued to demand the, evidently female, suit operator's surrender, but they were clearly hesitant to shoot at her with Talbert stuck covering most of her as a hostage. For her part, the suit just continued to silently hold his rifle pointed between the other two paratroopers. Her lack of movement was almost enough to lull him into a sense of false calm, but the consistent pressure on his shoulders and his unnatural inability to move was a distinct reminder that he was in danger.

Just as things seemed like they were going to get completely out of hand, Shepard and Stone burst through the door weapons raised. The suit operator moved Talbert's rifle to point between the two groups of paratroopers. Seeing their commander, Williams and Dakota stopped shouting and focused on Shepard to see what his directions were. After a moment's pause Shepard lowered his weapons.

"Mike, keep the others out," he said, turning towards the NCO, "I would like to keep the presence of our guest quiet for the time being."

"But, sir…" Stone began.

"Do it, Sergeant," Shepard ordered.

Sgt. Stone mumbled something about getting everyone killed as he sullenly stepped outside to hold off the other members of the platoon who were responding to the commotion.

"Everybody, stand down. It's just Talbert and Williams again, go back to your posts."

Shepard turned his attention back towards the situation in the bunker. He spared a brief glance over at Williams and Dakota.

"You two injured?"

"Negative."

"All good, sir."

"What about you, Talbert, you good?" Shepard asked, turning to examine him.

"I don't think he can move," Dakota said.

"Yeah, he was trying to get away until that blue haze surrounded him," Williams added.

 _Blue haze?_ Talbert thought, _What the hell does he mean by blue haze?_

Shepard took in the new information for a moment before he sighed lightly.

"Well, seeing as it hasn't shot us yet I'm guessing it wants to talk," he said, "Has it said anything yet?"

"She only told Talbert to be still, right before she paralyzed him," Dakota responded.

"She?" Shepard asked.

"Just a guess, sir, her voice sounded female."

"But it was in English though," Shepard asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Good, my German is atrocious."

* * *

Talee kept her body still while she examined the humans further. Inside her helmet her face also remained impassive, even if the other occupants of the room couldn't see. Her mind ran full speed though as she took in every little detail. Facial recognition, weapon types, clothing types, identification patches, spoken language, and even accents were all taken into consideration. She could feel as Sal ran searches through all onboard databases, using nearly all of her processing power to do so, yet Talee could clearly maintain a separate train of thought of her own to track the conversation and movements of her opponents. This fusion of two minds was going to take a while to get used to.

The men's movements confirmed that they were trained soldiers. Their communications, both verbal and nonverbal, indicated that they were all veterans of their unit. They spoke old human English, though with an accent and idioms which weren't identifiable by the records she had available. Their weapons were logged as ancient human ballistics firearms from the human 20th century. Talee could see the statistics of each of them, name, manufacturer, ammunition type, capacity, and estimated stopping and penetration power. The amount of information that she was able to process simultaneously was astounding, even by the high standards of the Titans. Talee could definitely see the uses of the accidental changes.

 ** _Comment: I'm glad that my presence is so well appreciated, Operator._**

Talee rolled her eyes at the comment, _I suppose next you're going to tell me that our joining makes me useful enough to not be completely destroyed like all of the other organics when AI come to take over the galaxy._

 ** _Comment: Well there would need to be some adjustments to remove the inefficiencies, but it does improve your base potential._**

 _For only the low, low price of my sanity and free will._

 ** _Comment: Despite what you might think of me, I plan on keeping my sanity for at least another decade. Rampancy isn't known to set in for at least 20 years._**

 _Sal, I'm pretty sure I could now officially be considered to have multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia, seeing as I'm talking to the voices in my head, not to mention the PTSD and paranoia._

The database searches began to draw results. Narrowing down the search with the usage dates from the firearms, the unit patches indicated the men were from the Canadian 1st Parachute Battalion, which only existed from 1942-1945 by human record. Clothing patterns roughly matched the documented uniform, and although the accents did not match any known audio files from the time period there were none by Canadians. Glancing out of the slit in the bunker wall, and the doorway behind the Lieutenant, the visible foliage also appeared to be consistent with records of the environment of Earth's continent of Europe.

 _Is this what indoctrination is like?_ Talee thought, _I would have expected it to be something more relevant to the current time period. Also seems like that would be easier than completely constructing a new environment that has no real relevance to me._

 ** _Comment: Perhaps the Reapers construct an environment that you don't know in order to prevent you from poking holes at the imperfections?_**

 _Maybe, but I would also think that the Reapers would know that organics are emotionally driven beings, and the best way to control them is to manipulate these emotions, at the very least on a chemical level._

 ** _Comment: There is no evidence that the Reapers understand emotion though. After all, why would a god of logical evolution need something which creates such illogical reactions? I would expect that any emotional understanding they have is simply that it is an organic inefficiency which is only useful to be exploited temporarily. Additionally, fear is the easiest of these emotions to manipulate, and I do not register anything remotely close to fear in our collective conscious._**

 _No, I am definitely not afraid yet, there is no apparent threat, but I am definitely confused. Do you really think these search results draw an accurate conclusion?_

 ** _Comment: I do not identify any inconsistencies with all of the results being in the same place. The Canadian 1_** ** _st_** ** _Parachute Battalion was involved in several engagements in the Europe campaign during the so called World War II, although the presence of a Johnson would indicate we are later in the war, as they were only issued to Canadians in the First Special Service Force, whose Canadian members were folded into the 1_** ** _st_** ** _after the invasion of France. I would agree that this is either an elaborate deception, or we have accidentally discovered time travel. Neither option is particularly logical or comforting._**

 _It's really odd sharing your thought process with you and knowing what you're thinking and going to say before you say it. Don't even get me started on knowing that you know that I feel odd about knowing what you know before you say it._

 _Time to bury that rabbit hole._

Focusing fully back on the situation at hand, Talee realized that the conversation had quieted and all of the humans were looking at her expectantly. Briefly reviewing her memory of the last few seconds revealed that the newcomer **_Rank: 1_** ** _st_** ** _Lieutenant, Name: S. Shepard_** had asked her a question. At 6 ft. and about 180 lbs. he looked like a standard soldier. Sandy blond hair and brown eyes with a strong jaw set a handsome enough figure, though that fact was little more to Talee than a note in his new virtual profile. He held himself confidently, not too arrogantly, but clearly understanding his own strength. It was a good sign for a combat officer.

"So, what's it going to take for you to let my man go?" the Lieutenant asked.

Talee glanced down at the soldier she was holding. Her biotic stasis had prevented him from further attempts at attacking her. She respected his effort and creativity, but no unaugmented human could take on a biotic Titan single handedly and expect to do more than scratch the paint on her armor. What would it take for her to release him? She had no particular quarrel with him, but he did make a useful bargaining chip. The question remained though of what he was worth to her. She didn't need equipment, she had enough food and water to last for at least a week, and would likely be able to find more readily enough. The only thing she really needed was information. Was all of this a great deception? What could she ask that would reveal such a thing? What was this soldier even capable of providing an answer that could possibly help?

In glancing at the historical record of the human WWII event, Talee noticed that although these Canadians were by no means innocent, they were a far cry from the mass murderers that the Nazi, Soviet, or Japanese governments were. For the moment, it seemed the best option was to make nice and stay near these individuals. With that decided, Talee chose to ask some basic questions about where, and when, she had now found herself to begin building a rapport with these humans so she could get more sensitive information in the future.

"Lieutenant, I would like some information if you would be so kind."

"You are welcome to ask," he replied, obviously expecting such an answer.

"What is the date, Lieutenant?"

His eyes narrowed at her question. He studied her more closely, seeming to try to figure out why she would ask such an innocent question.

"The 24th of March," he replied a moment later.

"And the year?"

Again he paused before answering, "1945."

 ** _Comment: March 24_** ** _th_** ** _, 1945 was the date of Operation Varsity, during which the Canadian 1_** ** _st_** ** _Parachute Battalion completed an airborne drop over the Rhine River near the town of Diersfordter Wald._**

"And where are we, Lieutenant?"

"Germany," Shepard replied simply. "May I ask a question of my own, ma'am?"

"You may ask…"

"Who are you, and who do you work for?" he asked.

"Operator Morgan La Fey, Titan Corp, Phoenix squad, Free Galactic Resistance."

A series of shouts and an explosion drew the humans' confused looks away from her. Lt. Shepard glanced out the slit of the bunker before swearing quietly.

"Well Operator, it looks like we're going to have to put this discussion on hold. Right now I would appreciate it if you would decide to either shoot us all, or let my man go so he can help in the defense. Williams, Dakota, hold this position. Talbert, when she lets you go, keep an eye on her and keep anybody else out, whether Jerry or one of our boys. Only people allowed in are myself and Sgt. Stone."

Nodding quickly to each person in turn, Shepard issued his orders before turning and jogging out the door of the bunker. Talee could hear him issuing other orders to the rest of his unit as gun fire began to fill the air in and around their position and along the edge of the forest to the west. The two other occupants of the room spared another glance at her before stepping over to the open slit and adding their own fire to the cacophony.

Talee spotted the forms of the enemy soldiers along the tree line, the muzzle flashes of their own weapons lighting them up briefly before they blended back into the mottled colors of the forest. Occasionally, one would fall here or there, and she could here cries of "Medic!" coming from the trenches around her. Sighing to herself, Talee realized that although the Canadians would likely defeat this attack, she might as well help to lessen their casualties.

Talee released the stasis on her captive, Talbert, and gave him a light push away from her. He stumbled slightly, unprepared for the sudden movement, before turning back to her to find his rifle still in her hands.

"Hey, I'm gonna need that."

She ignored him as she stepped over towards the firing slit of the bunker, taking up a position next to Dakota, the apparent marksman of the group.

"Wait, you can't just…"

Talee lifted the rifle to her shoulder and sighted on her first German. Despite the unfamiliarity of the weapon, her training took over as a small amount of adrenaline pumped into her system, increasing her mental processing time even more. The rifle sights appeared to be a simple ring and post system. As an experience weapons user, Talee assumed that placing the single post attached to the end of the barrel at the center of the ring near her eye would constitute as "on target." She aimed for the head of her target, for the face specifically, as this would avoid allowing his helmet to do its job of protecting his vulnerable head.

She breathed in. _Slow is smooth._ She eased her breath out. _Smooth is fast._ The rifle bucked against her shoulder. _Four inches high at 100 yards._

Moving her aim to the next target, Talee corrected for the inaccuracy of the sights before firing another round. She quickly fell into a rhythm, dropping a new target with each trigger pull. She was entirely relaxed, finding some familiarity in the actions of battle, and allowing her to ignore the absurdity of the situation she found herself in. These enemies proved an almost negligible threat to her, with their ancient weapons and relatively low numbers. If necessary it was likely that she would be able to kill all of them by herself.

After the eighth round the rifle gave a mechanical pinging sound and ejected a strip of metal. Stepping to the side into cover outside of the view of the firing slit, Talee examined the weapon for damage. On the top of the rifle, above the trigger system, a gap had opened, revealing the inner workings of the rifle, and an interior capacity.

 _Must be where the ammunition is loaded._ She thought to herself. She thrust her hand out toward Talbert in a silent demand.

She glanced up momentarily afterwards to see the private gawking at her. A glance at the other two soldiers revealed that they had stopped firing and were looking at her with similar, though less dramatic expressions. She had forgotten what it was like for unaugmented people to see a Titan in action for the first time. Although she had felt relaxed and almost slow about her firing, her enhanced reflexes and mental augments meant that she had fired eight rounds, and downed eight targets in just under two seconds.

Glancing back at Talbert, the boy was still standing slack jawed.

"Reload," she said, flexing her fingers of her extended palm in a "give here" manner.

The man numbly reached to one of the pockets on his harness, fumbling briefly with the snap before handing her a metal strip with eight more rounds clipped into it. Talee accepted it before feeding it into the rifle, taking the barest of moments to examine how it should be loaded.

With the fresh magazine loaded, Talee glanced back at the two soldiers standing at the slit in time to see a round ricochet off the top of the slit, causing both the soldiers to flinch.

"Might want to duck," she said dryly, before stepping back over to sight onto her next target.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Some introduction to new characters, and expositions. I do appreciate any reviews you all have, so feel free to leave any comments. I do like to keep my A/Ns short, so unless requested most responses to reviews will likely be through PMs. Additionally, I will have more lengthy notes about the story status on my profile. Hope you enjoyed.**


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